Fellow lovers of the smell of racing fuel,
As some of you know, I've been hanging around with half of the Jack and Joe
show for the past two weeks. Joe Alexander and I put on a little Triumph
hospitality tent and minor parts selling operation at Lime Rock over the
Labor Day holiday, then we met up again at Watkins Glen this past weekend.
The yellow TR4 was in tow, and ready for another flogging.
For those of you who chuckled through my misadventures at Mid-Ohio in June,
I am very happy to say my Glen experience was pretty much the complete
opposite. The car ran like a top. My only problem was the very first run on
Thursday when the engine bogged down on turn one coming out of the pits.
After two slow laps it suddenly roared back to life. In the pits I found a
sunk float in the carb and the need to recenter the jet. The rest of the
weekend was smooth sailing, not counting that stupid exhaust system. After
having the pipe come disconnected from the header twice on two sessions, I
facilitated a quick fix with two big ol' pop rivets. I was in clean clothes
the rest of the weekend. Nobody recognized me!
This hanging around Joe "I really don't need to unload my toolbox"
Alexander MUST be wearing off. Thanks Joe!
For you racing history buffs, this event at Watkins Glen is a must do. On
Friday after racing, all drivers are invited to drive their race cars into
town and park on the main street. The town is packed with people who are
there to see the cars. After almost 2 hours of enjoying the town, we hop
back in the cars and get to drive two laps around the original Watkins Glen
road course. And it wasn't a parade lap, either! On several stretches of
rural road, our escort, the local Sheriff, felt the need to exercise his
cruiser in front of a pack of race cars, so naturally we had to make chase!
As we drove into town, the streets were lined with adoring fans screaming,
waving, taking pictures...Too much fun!!!
Back on the track, Ed Ceilley in his GT6 and I duked it out during the
qualifying race and for the main event it was a repeat of the excitement as
we changed places several times over the 5 lap race. On one lap we both
made an ambitious charge down the back straight and when I lost Ed in the
mirrors entering the chicane (known at the Bus Stop at the Glen) I chose
the safe route through the cones missing the Bus Stop altogether. Why the
workers put the cones so close together I'll never know... Ed, thanks for a
great race, I look forward to doing it again!
Question for all you autocrossers, how do you clean up cone scum? ;-)
Pictures of the aftermath of the cone incident at
http://members.iconn.net/~thefryes/conescum.html
Ah, life is good!
Henry Frye - thefryes@iconn.net
The redeemed #05
I still can't believe all this fun is legal.
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